Whispering Roses
by TheOnlyTrueMagic
Summary: Minerva gave Albus her heart long ago, and she has never regretted it. But there's one thing that she never got, and Albus is determined that she will finally get it.


**Disclaimer****: I don't own it, and I am making no money off of it. Please don't sue me.**

**AN****: This story is AU and EWE. It takes place in the September after the Final Battle. Albus lives, and Severus lives. The only warning is for too much sweet fluff. The prompt for this story was "whisper."**

Minerva knew that Albus loved her dearly, but he did not have a very impressive track record when it came to celebrating their anniversary. As they had never formally married, having been too worried about how Voldemort might use them against each other if they did, they always observed the day that they exchanged vows privately, with neither an officiant nor witnesses, as their anniversary. He meant well, but his plans for gifts and romantic gestures always seemed to go awry.

Minerva had woken to an empty bed, but that was not surprising. Though Voldemort was finally dead, she and Albus were still being discreet about their relationship. They did not share a suite and only occasionally shared a bed. Truthfully, Minerva thought as she woke on their first anniversary after Voldemort's defeat, she was getting tired of it. But they'd both been so busy with rebuilding Hogwarts so that it could open at its usual time that their personal desires had been shoved aside.

She looked down at her bare left hand and sighed, wondering if the day would ever come when she would have a wedding ring.

Though Albus was missing, he had left something behind. On his pillow lay a perfect red rose. It had been charmed to be both thornless and to never die. But when Minerva picked it up, it began to whisper.

"Beautiful." It was so soft that only she could hear it as it repeated its message over and over again. Minerva blushed and impulsively pressed the rose to her lips. Perhaps Albus was finally figuring out how to properly celebrate an anniversary. Smiling, she cast a charm to keep the rose hovering in the air beside her, whispering its sweet message, as she prepared for her Friday classes. Before she left her suite, she laid the rose on her dressing table. It was tempting to take it with her, but she sternly told herself that she was a professor. Her private life needed to stay private.

When she walked into her classroom, she realized that Albus had other ideas. Another rose lay on her desk, and when she picked it up, she heard another sweet whisper.

It too, repeated over and over, but she was pleased that it was only loud enough for her to hear and only if she held it to her ear. Her students would never know. So she smiled and kissed the second rose, just before her first class of the day, seventh years and her beloved "eighth year" returners, entered the room.

And so it went through the rest of the day. Before each class, another rose appeared on her desk, and each one whispered a different sweet endearment. Breakfast and lunch brought roses as well and a conspicuously absent headmaster. Severus watched her with amusement, and she blushed uncharacteristically and muttered Albus's name. He nodded though there was an edge of mischief in his dark eyes that puzzled her.

Finally, she returned to her rooms to prepare for dinner, hoping to find Albus so that they could go down to the Great hall together. Instead, she found her best friend, Pomona Sprout, wearing formal lilac robes. The most beautiful white silk dress Minerva had ever seen was hovering in the air beside her. Pomona was holding every rose except for the one Minerva carried. She smiled at her friend as Minerva looked around, bewildered.

"Come on, Min. Let's get you dressed. Albus is waiting for you in the Great Hall."

Minerva sputtered, "What in Merlin's name is going on, Pomona? This mystery is just getting more and more complicated."

Pomona's hand on her arm, as well as the whisper of a new, twelfth rose, calmed her.

"Do you trust Albus, Min?" Pomona asked.

Minerva swallowed around a lump in her throat. "With all my heart."

Pomona smiled. "Then just enjoy this. You'll understand soon enough."

At a loss as to what else to do, Minerva did just that. Pomona helped her into the white dress and matching heels, both of which fit like they had been made for her and, after her heavy everyday robes and sensible shoes, made her feel like she was wearing hardly anything. Pomona freed Minerva's silver hair from its usual bun, letting it tumble freely down her back. Finally, she fastened a delicate gold chain around her neck. A pendant hung from it, displaying a lion entwined with a Scottish thistle.

"It's a gift from Albus," Pomona whispered. Not trusting her voice, Minerva just nodded.

A knock at the door revealed Severus Snape looking strikingly handsome in formal robes of green, silver, and black. His hair was pulled back with a silver ribbon, and he actually smiled as he looked at her, then at Pomona.

"You can go on to the Great Hall, Pomona. I will bring Minerva in a moment."

As she left, Severus turned to Minerva. The young man was nervous, she realized. But why?

"Minerva, I know that I'm not family. Yours are long gone now, though I have no doubt they will be watching from beyond the Veil. But Albus asked me if I would do this, and now, I am asking you." He squeezed her hand gently. "Will you allow me to walk you down the aisle and give you away?"

In that moment, Minerva suddenly understood. She looked down at her dress, at the whispering roses that Severus had bound into a bouquet for her, and at the familiar white lace veil that Severus was holding.

"This is my wedding day." Her words were awestruck, and the look in Severus's eyes told her that it was nothing less than the truth.

"Yes, it is. We made it, Minerva. Every one of us made it. And now, you and Albus can finally have your reward." His own voice trembled slightly as he held out the veil.

"Pomona said this was your mother's wedding veil." Overwhelmed, Minerva simply nodded. "May I put it on you?"

For a moment, tears blurred her eyes, but she blinked them away and nodded again. Gently, he smoothed back her hair and secured the veil before carefully drawing the lace forward over her face.

He took a deep breath. "Minerva, there is one more thing." Severus took an intricately braided gold bracelet out of his pocket. "I know it's not much, but it was my mother's bracelet," he said quietly. "I hoped it could be your 'something borrowed."

Finally, Minerva found her voice. "Of course I will. I'm honored, Severus." She held out her wrist, and he fastened the chain securely. For a moment, they simply stared at each other.

"He will make you happy," Severus managed, his voice rough.

She squeezed his hand. "He will."

Severus smiled. "And if he doesn't, I have made it abundantly clear to him as to the dire consequences I will administer."

Minerva laughed, amused and touched, and willingly took Severus's arm as they left for the Great Hall.

They entered from the front, through the main doors that had been thrown open to reveal a magical late summer night, as it had been when she and Albus had exchanged private vows so long ago. The house tables and staff table were gone, replaced by rows of chairs, and Minerva was shocked and delighted to see all the people who meant so much to her, her fellow professors, the members of the Order of the Phoenix, the parents of her students…as well as the entire student body, all in formal robes, hushed and waiting expectantly. Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt stood at the end of the center aisle, handfasting ribbons on the table beside him. Then she saw Albus, and she forgot everyone else. He stood beside Kingsley in formal robes of sober blue and silver, his white hair pulled back in a silver ribbon. And when his twinkling blue eyes met hers, she knew that this was no dream. This was real.

Severus gently roused her from her thoughts, and she smiled at him as he made sure that her arm was securely tucked into his.

Music began, and Minerva felt a sweet pain for her muggle father. It was not traditional magical wedding music. It was the thoroughly muggle, "Here Comes the Bride."

Everyone stood, turning to watch her as Severus escorted her down the aisle. The faces were a blur. The only one she saw was Albus waiting patiently for her.

At last, they arrived, Severus delivering her to Albus's side. But before Severus let her go, he turned to her and carefully, as Arthur Wesley had shown him, lifted her veil, letting the lace fall over her hair as he kissed her cheek.

"Be happy, Min. Be loved." She felt the shaking in his hands, heard the tremble in his voice, and saw the tears in his eyes. She drew his face down to hers and kissed his cheek in return.

"You, too," she whispered, and he nodded, finally glancing away briefly to Rolanda Hooch who stood beside Pomona. Minerva's eyes sparkled.

Severus took her hand and placed it in Albus's hand. "Take care of her," he whispered.

"I will." At Albus's response, Severus finally let go, stepping back to stand beside Aberforth Dumbledore as witnesses even as Pomona Sprout and Rolanda Hooch did the same.

And then she and Albus were standing alone before Kingsley as he began the ceremony.

Minerva would later find that she could not remember the words he had spoken, though she knew they were the traditional magical bonding rite, the one by which the magical world had bound themselves to their partners for generations. Albus spoke his assent, and she gave her own in a voice that somehow, did not shake. But then, before Severus moved forward with the rings, Albus took the bouquet from Pomona.

"Minerva, I've never been very accomplished with romantic gestures. You of all people know that. So I decided to let these roses speak for me, each one of them charmed to whisper something I love about you. And I want you to know that I meant every word that they said…even when I don't always get the words right." The blue eyes were teary now, and Minerva couldn't help but speak.

"Oh, Albus! Don't you know it has never really mattered?" She took her free hand and placed it on his chest so that she could feel the beating of his heart. "I know what's in your heart. That's enough for me. It has always been enough for me."

The look on Albus's face encouraged Kingsley to move on in the ritual, and soon, they were exchanging rings and then bound palm to palm by silk ribbon. In a symbolic gesture, Severus and Pomona grabbed their bound hands and tried to separate them, but Kingsley knew his business. The bonds held.

Finally, it was done. Kingsley turned them to face their audience and declared, "By the power vested in me by the Ministry of Magic of England and under the authority of Mother Magic Herself, I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride!"

The cheers were deafening as Albus and Minerva kissed in public for the very first time.

Many glorious hours later, Minerva and Albus had returned to Albus's suite. Once they left for their weeklong honeymoon, the house elves would go to work expanding it so that Minerva could finally share rooms with her husband.

Minerva sat before the mirror, brushing out her hair. Albus came up behind her, offering her the vase that now held her whispering roses. She smiled.

"I meant to ask you, how long does the magic last?"

Albus set them down beside her as the whispering started up again.

"As long as my love for you."

Then she was in his arms, and there was no need for any more words.


End file.
